Animal waste management, particularly the clean-up of animal waste from public and non-public areas such as parks, curbsides, etc., currently involves picking up the animal waste using a single compartment, single-use plastic disposable bag.
However, the need for an animal, e.g., a pet, to relieve itself is often unpredictable. Thus, the number of animal waste bags required to adequately manage animal waste during any given time period (e.g., during a walk or longer journey) may exceed the number of single use bags available.
This can lead to frustration, embarrassment, and violating local pet curbing laws, if animal waste is left unattended. Unsanitary improvisation efforts to clean up the animal waste may also result. This risk and challenge is compounded when one owns multiple dogs.
On the other hand, it is inconvenient to carry more waste bags than absolutely necessary in anticipation of avoiding this need.
Single-use disposable animal waste bags also raise concerns for the environment, as landfills take on millions of pounds of plastic from single use animal waste bags every year.
Multi-compartment animal waste bags are therefore described herein, which multi-compartment animal waste bags provide advantages over conventional single-use animal waste bags.
The multi-compartment animal waste bag allows for the retrieval and storage of multiple pet wastes in separate compartments or pouches formed of separate walls of flexible material bonded together along respective edges. The respective walls are bonded together to form the separate compartments, each having an opening defined by the bonded edges. The edges may be sealed, folded or otherwise enclosed to prevent waste material to flow between compartments. In operation, after one compartment is inverted during waste retrieval, the additional compartments may be used for further waste retrieval.
The several walls of the animal waste bag may be formed of flexible material, such as but not limited to high or low density Polyethylene, polypropylene, Bio-degradable and compostable plastics, corn, vegetable, wheat and plant starches, partially or wholly recycled material, resin, metal composite petroleum films, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl, silicone, paper, paper composites with synthetic fibers and the like.
First and second walls of material may be formed in substantially rectangular, curved or polygonal shape, and may be sealed at respective peripheral edges, leaving an edge unsealed or otherwise open so as to create an open pocket. Another wall of material may be similarly formed and bonded to an adjacent wall of material at the perimeter edges so as to form a second open pocket. Further compartments may be similarly formed. Each wall of material that is added may be successively lower in height than the previous wall to which it is bonded.
In operation, a user inserts his/her hand into an unused open pocket of the animal waste bag, and, using the walls of material as a protective barrier, the user retrieves the animal waste material, inverting the pocket being used so as to deposit the waste material therein. After inversion, another unused open pocket is available for the user to retrieve a second animal waste material. To retrieve the second waste material, the user inserts his/her hand into another unused open pocket, and, using the walls of material as a protective barrier, the user retrieves the animal waste material, inverting the pocket being used so as to deposit the waste material therein.
The animal waste bag may be made as a singular unit or as multiple units attached adjacent to one another and perforated to allow for detachment. The animal waste bag accordingly may be folded and rolled unto itself or a spindle.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the presently described embodiments.